Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 503 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,129 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in H&R Block by 115.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 40.9% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 129.6% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in H&R Block by 326.9% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 24,932 shares during the period. Finally, Ziegler Capital Management LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total transaction of $4,228,172.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 755,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,171,216.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Up 0.8 %

H&R Block stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $48.05. 302,987 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,054,401. H&R Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $52.90. The company has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.35.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.58) by $0.31. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.98% and a negative return on equity of 227.22%. The business had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.37) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

H&R Block Profile

H&R Block, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides assisted income tax return preparation and do-it-yourself (DIY) tax return preparation services and products to the general public primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It offers assisted income tax return preparation and related services through a system of retail offices operated directly by the company or its franchisees.